US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Photo: Wikicommons. The US administration’s work on a new Middle East peace plan is “fairly well advanced” and President Donald Trump will decide when to announce it, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday during a visit to Jordan. Tillerson also signed a five-year aid package that extends US support to Jordan, a key regional ally, despite Trump’s threat to withhold support from states opposed to his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Commenting on the peace plan, Tillerson said: “I have seen the plan. … It’s been under development...

The decision marks a victory for the nearly 64,000 active service members and retirees who have put their names on a Burn Pit Registry created by the Veterans Administration, bringing them one step closer to getting adequate medical coverage, something that has never been guaranteed. Private contractors who were also exposed to the burn pit toxins also have been denied coverage.

Nazire Terzi, the widow of Brig. Gen. Semih Terzi, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Monday, has said the night of a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016 and the killing of her husband for being a coup plotter are shrouded in mystery and that the only thing she wants is for the facts to come out.Semih Terzi was killed by noncommissioned officer Ã–mer Halisdemir at the Special Forces Command in the GÃ¶lbaÅŸÄ± district of Ankara during the coup attempt. Reportedly, Terzi would take over the Special Forces Command with the putschist soldiers accompanying him...

Putin mentioned the call with Trump at the start of his meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Monday. He said: "Naturally we spoke about the Palestinian-Israeli settlement" and told Abbas: "I would like to convey to you his best wishes." Putin met Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu exactly two weeks ago in Moscow. Russia has managed to maintain robust relations with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority government, as well as Israeli rivals Syria and Iran.

Iran unveiled a series of new homemade nuclear-capable ballistic missiles during military parades held over the weekend, a move that experts view as a bid to bolster the hardline ruling regime as dissidents continue efforts to stir protest. On the heels of an encounter between an Iranian drone and Israeli forces, Iranian leaders showcased their ballistic missile capabilities, which includes a nuclear-capable medium-range missile that appears to share similarities with North Korean technology, according to experts. The nuclear-capable missile can strike Israel even when fired from Iranian territory, raising concerns about an impending conflict between Tehran and the Jewish state that...

On December 8, 2017, the leader of Iraq’s Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Qais al-Khazali paid a visit to the Lebanese-Israeli border to inspect Lebanese “Hezbollah” resistance positions and to issue a threat to the southern neighbor. In a leaked video, he was shown as saying: “We are here with ‘Hezbollah’ and we announce our complete readiness to stand side by side with the Lebanese people and Palestinian cause against the Israeli occupation.” Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, or Khazali Network, is affiliated with Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). -excerpt- His statement however demonstrated the common interests of pro-Iran regional militias to allow Tehran...

The US has launched rare air strikes in eastern Syria to thwart and attack on allied Kurdish and Arab fighters aligned to Syria's government. Some 500 fighters had tried to take ground captured from the Islamic State (IS) group by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). SDF and government forces control areas on either side of the Euphrates River. Some US forces are embedded with the SDF but they suffered no casualties. One SDF fighter was injured, the US officials said. The pro-government forces had been backed by artillery, tanks and other heavy weaponry when the attacked an SDF headquarters...

ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's U.S.-backed Kurds are getting indirect help from an unlikely source in their war against Turkey in the northwestern region of Afrin: President Bashar al-Assad. Pro-government forces and Kurdish-led forces have fought each other elsewhere in Syria and Damascus opposes the Kurds' demands for autonomy. But in Afrin they have a common enemy and a mutual interest in blocking Turkish advances. Turkey, which regards the Kurdish YPG militia in Afrin as a threat on its southern border, launched an assault on the region last month. Seeking to shield Afrin, the Kurds asked Damascus to send forces...

One pilot in serious condition * Israel attacks Syrian, Iranian targets in fresh strike * Rocket sirens sound throughout northern Israel An Israeli F-16 was downed Saturday morning after Israel intercepted an Iranian drone launched from Syria into Israeli territory. According to the Israeli army, Syrian anti-aircraft missiles targeted the jet after Israel responded to the infiltration of the drone with a strike in Syria. The two F-16 pilots ejected as the plane went down in northern Israel. The pilots were taken to the hospital in stable condition. One of the pilots is in serious condition. Following the downing of...

YPJ spokeswoman and commander Nesrin Abdullah is in Stockholm for diplomatic talks. Speaking at a press conference in the Swedish parliament, Nesrin Abdullah, spokeswoman and commander for the Women's Defense Units (YPJ) in Rojava, drew attention to the Turkish regime's intention to carry out a genocide on the population in Afrin with jihadist militias. Nesrin Abdullah explained to numerous journalists that in Afrin so far, a peaceful coexistence of different ethnic groups and faiths has taken place. "For 20 days, the NATO member Turkey has been attacking Afrin in front of the world public. These attacks are contrary to international...

LEMONS, GRAPEFRUITS, oranges and figs grow in abundance in the three gardens of Nadia Younis Butti’s house in Mosul, the house her parents built from scratch. She used to enjoy the lush trees and alluring fruits, sitting in her rocking chair near the flourishing, scented bushes. On July 17, 2014, however, Nadia had to leave Mosul, because ISIS had captured Iraq’s second-largest city. “With pain in my heart I left,” she says. ISIS has been ousted from Mosul and Nadia, who belongs to the Assyrian Church, recently returned to visit the city of her birth. “It is still extremely dangerous...

The leading Democratic candidate for a Virginia House seat the party is targeting in 2018 moved to the state just a year-and-a-half ago, but you'd never know it from watching his campaign's first ad.Roger Dean Huffstetler, who is both outraising and outspending his Democratic opponents in Virginia's largely rural fifth district, announced his campaign less than a year after he moved in the summer of 2016 to Charlottesville, a blue city located near the center of a rural red district. His first ad—which, based on a nearly $50,000 expenditure, appears to have been created by a major D.C. advertising firm...

The United Nations has issued a report in which it states that al-Qaeda's global terror network remains "remarkably resilient" as ISIS quickly heads towards defeat. In some regions, the reports argues, al-Qaeda now poses more of a threat than ISIS. The report, sent to the UN Security Council, says that AQAP -- al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen -- has now become the communications hub for the entire organization. "Al-Qaeda affiliates remain the dominant terror threat in some regions, such as Somalia and Yemen, a fact demonstrated by a continuous stream of attacks and foiled operations," the report...

Qatar’s diplomat in Moscow has said his country was in serious talks to purchase an advanced Russian anti-aircraft missile system also sought by a number of other regional powers, some of which were at odds with one another. Qatari envoy Fahad bin Mohammed al-Attiyah told Russia state media Thursday that the tiny oil-rich monarchy was “already in advanced negotiations” over “air-defense systems and capabilities for our land forces as well.” The S-400 Triumf has been considered one of the most effective surface-to-air missile systems in the world, and Qatar’s interest in it signaled only the latest attempt by a Middle...

US report confirms nine Abrams tanks ended up with Iranian-backed militias in Iraq ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Nine Abrams tanks the United States had provided to Iraqi forces for the battle against the Islamic State (IS) are now in the hands of the Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militias, a US military audit confirmed. A quarterly inspector general report for the US mission in Iraq and Syria, released on Feb. 2, confirms that M1 Abrams battle tanks and other lethal equipment provided to the Iraqi government by Washington have ended up with the Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular...

George Washington University’s Program on Extremism released a study Monday focused on Americans who traveled to Iraq or Syria to join the Islamic State (ISIS). The study, titled “American Jihadists in Syria and Iraq,” provides details on 64 of the 300 or so jihadists the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified as those who attempted to or did travel abroad to join the radical Islamic group. The 64 on whom the study focused made it to the Middle East, and 12 of those returned to the United States. Of those twelve, nine were arrested, one returned to Syria and died...

Toppled dictator Saddam Hussein's exiled daughter is among dozens named on Iraq's "most wanted" list of people accused of supporting acts of terror. Those on the list are wanted for belonging to or having an affiliation with ISIL, Al Qaeda or Saddam's Baath Party regime. Raghad Saddam Hussein responded on Monday by pledging to take legal action against those who have "insulted her". Iraq's government has been seeking to prosecute Ms Hussein since 2006 for allegedly supporting violence in the country. The list echoes the US set of 55 playing cards, released in 2003, that depicted the most wanted members...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan will travel to Vatican City on Sunday evening to meet with Pope Francis. During a news conference at Istanbul's AtatÃ¼rk Airport State Guest House, ErdoÄŸan called the visit a "significant opportunity" to convey messages of peace. "I see this visit as a significant opportunity in terms of drawing attention to common human values, friendship and peace messages," the president told reporters. "We will discuss Palestine, Jerusalem, Syria, Iraq, the fight against terrorism, the problems of refugees, humanitarian aid and the fight against rising Islamophobia and cultural racism in the West," he said, referring to his...

The U.S. military is pulling its forces from an American-led coalition base in Iraq and shifting them to Afghanistan following the defeat of Islamic State group militants in the country. Western contractors at the base say U.S. troops began the drawdown over the past week, with groups of soldiers leaving the base on daily flights. The exact scale of the redeployment was unclear. According to various estimates, as of 2016, there were more 5,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in Iraq, with nearly 4,000 deployed to support and assist local groups fighting ISIS militants. The remaining personnel included special operations forces,...

Feb. is the Iranian regime's celebration of "The Revolution". Protesters have taken to the streets to call for the end of the regime and death to Khamenei. They are tearing down posters & banners celebrating the Revolution and burning them. The protests are happening in cities throughout the country. The women are still taking off their head scarves in protest and being arrested. Just because the media doesn't report it, doesn't mean it isn't happening. There are many photos & videos on Twitter @iranprotests, and #iranprotests